Catherine the Great face swap

Where this one comes from

Painted around 1782 by an unidentified Russian hand, in the pattern established by Dmitry Levitzky, whose state portraits set what the empress was supposed to look like. Catherine was born a minor German princess, married the heir to the Russian throne, deposed him in 1762 and reigned for thirty-four years. This particular canvas is in the National Museum in Warsaw — the capital of the country she took apart in three pieces with Prussia and Austria.

What is in the picture

Silver-grey silk, an ermine-lined mantle, and a chest covered in the star and sash of the Order of St Andrew and whatever else would fit. The hair is powdered and set back off a high forehead, with a small diamond crown perched on it. The face is painted pleasantly and without much interest in accuracy — this is a state portrait of a sixty-year-old woman produced to a specification, and the specification did not include age.

When people use it

For taking charge of something that was not offered to you. It suits the person who reorganised the group chat, and any caption about improving a situation without permission.

How your face lands in it

A near-frontal head, lit softly and evenly, with the powdered hair standing well clear on both sides and the forehead fully open. Among the more forgiving pictures on the site. As with the other court portraits, everything that identifies the sitter is below the neck and none of it moves.

Portrait of Catherine II — Unidentified Russian painter, c. 1782. The painting dates from the 1780s and its maker is unknown, so it has been in the public domain for well over a century, and the museum publishes its photograph as public domain. Source

Also in: Paintings · Royal portraits